Vehicle-body.



No. 675,900. Patented lune Il, I90I. J. H. McLEAN.

VEHICLE BODY.

(Application led Sept. 16, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet l.

(No Ilodel.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES 1I. MCLEAN, OF DAYTON, OIIIO.

VEHICLE-BODY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 675,900, dated June 11,1901. Application filed September 16,1899. Serial No. 730,786. (Nomodel.)

T0 all 71171/0777/ it 'nw/y concern;

Be it known that I, JAMES H. MCLEAN, of Dayton, county of Montgomery,and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inVehicle Construction; and I do hereby declare that the following is aclear, full, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

My invention relates to improvements in vehicles, and has for its objectthe improvement of the construction of the several parts, moreparticularly of the vestibule, which may in mild weather be moved fromin front of the driver to a position behind the driver, screening him,as well as dust, dirt, &c., from the interior of the vehicle-body;furthermore, to an improved end-gate connecting and locking mechanism;furthermore, to a compartmentpartition for the body of said vehicle; andmy invention furthermore relates to the details of construction,arrangements, combinations, and subcombinations of the various parts, aswill be hereinafter described, and stated in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional sideelevation View taken online X X of Fig. 4. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view on line X X of Fig.1, the end-gate being shown in the open position. Fig. 3 is arear-elevation View of the vehicle body with both the end gates opened.Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the vehicle-body with the vestibulearranged in front of the driver, as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is arear-elevation View of a vehicle-body, showi'ng the end-gates closed.Fig. 6 is a bottom perspective View of the drivers seat, showing aportion of its supporting-standard. Fig. 7 is a sectional side-elevationview on line X X of Fig. 8 with the lower door shown open; and Fig. 8 isa front view showing two of the compartments formed bythe partitionswithin the vehicle-body, the adjoining portions of said partitions beingbroken away.

Hinged to the lower rear end of the vehiclebody is a lower end-gate 10,provided in the instance shown in the drawings with brackets 11, securedto and projecting forwardly from the opposite ends of said end-gate 10.Near the outer ends of said brackets 11 are pivoted connecting-rods 12,pivotally connecting said 'brackets 11 with brackets 13, secured uponthe front face and near opposite ends of an upper end-gate 14, pivotedby hinges 15 or otherwise near the upper rear end of the vehicle-body.Near the outer end of each of said brackets 11 is a lateral projectingpin or lug 16, adapted to contact with said connections 12 when saidend-gates 10 and 14 are opened, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, toprevent the lower end-gate lO from swinging below and out of line withthe bottom of the vehicle-body, and at the same time said connection 12connects both said upper and lower end-gates 14 and 10 in such mannerthat each supports and retains the other in an open position, while whensaid end-gates are closed neither can be opened except by swinging theupper end-gate 14 rearward and upward upon its hinges 15.

Through the lower end of the upper eudgate 14 extends a revoluble bolt17, provided on its outer end with an operating-handle 1S and on itsinner end with a latch 19, adapted when turned downward to overlie theupper edge of the lower end-gate 10 to prevent said upper end-gate 14,and consequently said lower end-gate 10, from being opened except whensaid latch 19 is turned out of engagement with the lower end-gate 10 bysaid operating-handle 18 to permit the opening of said upper end-gate14, while for convenience a bail or handle 20 is mounted upon said lowerend-gate 10 near its top and projects rearwardly therefrom.

Within the vehicle-body and secured thereto is a horizontal partition2l, near the top thereof, Figs. 1 and 3, having downwardlyprojectingcleats 22 near its opposite ends, and at opposite sides of thevehicle-bed and within the vehicle-body are secured cleats 23, Figs. l,2, and 3. Between said cleats 22 and 23 and the partition 21 and thevehicle-bed is adapted to be slid for use in hauling numbers of baskets,boxes, or other separate articles a frame formed of a series of uprightpartitions 25, connected at their tops and bottoms by a series ofcross-pieces 26 for rigidly uniting said uprights 25 together. Upon theadjacent faces of said uprights 25 are secured a series of substantiallyL-shaped portions 27, extending substantially the length of saiduprights 25 and adapted to form grooves in which the boxes, baskets, orother separato receptacles are adapted to be supported and slid into andout of said frame.

Near the front end of the vehicle-bed is a semicircular recess 30,adapted to accommodate the front wheels of the vehicle in making shortturns, which recess 30 is formed of a substantially senlicircularmetallic portion 3l, which extends above the floor of the vehicle-bed,and a corresponding offset 32, Fig. 1, must be made in the lower frontcorners of the upright frame portions 25 to accommodate said portion31,forming said recess 30. At the front end of each of said groovesformed by said members 27, except the lower row of said grooves, ishinged a door 33, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8, at a point substantially on alevel with the bottom of each of said grooves, so that said doors may beopened outward and downward, as shown at the bottom of Fig. 7, and a lugor cross-strip 34is mounted at such a point adjacent the hinge of eachof said doors 33 as to form a stop for each of said doors when opened tomaintain the opened doors in a plane coinciding with the grooves formedby said portions 27, and at the same time said cross-strips 34 areprovided with suitable recesses for the reception of one or morespring-bolts 40 at the top of each of said doors 33 to retain said doors33 in a closed position. The full boxes, baskets, or other receptaclesare adapted to be taken out at the rear end of said grooves formed bysaid portions 27, while said receptacles when emptied are adapted to bereplaced in said grooves through their opened doors 33, which replacingof said emptied receptacles moves the remaining filled receptaclesnearer to the rear end of said grooves formed by said portions 27, sothat they may readily be removed from the rear of the wagon.

The front end of the bed of the vehicle is in the instance shown in Fig.2 of the drawings formed semicircular, while the top of the roof isformed substantially rectangular at its front end, as shown in dottedlines in Fig. 2. Upon the front end of the bed of the vehicle is mounteda circular track 41, Figs. 1 and 2, in substantially the center of whichtrack 41 is pivotally mounted a vestibule 42, Figs. 1, 2, and 4, bymeans of one or more arms 43 at its upper and lower ends, respectively,pivoted by means of pin 44, secured in block 45 at the top, and pin 46,rigidly secured in the bed of the vehicle, and said vestibule 42 isprovided at its bottom with one or Inore rollers 47, bearing upon saidtrack 4l and receiving the weight of said vestibule. In the instanceshown in Figs. 1 and 6 of the drawings said pin 46 is tubular and isprovided at its upper end with an enlarged head 50, provided on itsupper face with a series of substantially V-shaped notches adapted toreceive the notches of a head 51, secured by arm 52 to the seat 53, saidhead 5l being provided in its center with a rigidly-secured pin 54,fitting in the bore of the tubular upper end of said pin 4G, whichenables said seat 53 to be revolved upon a pivot and to be secured atany revoluble position by means of said notches in said heads 50 and 51,and at the same time the arm 52 of said head 5l reinforces orstrengthens the bottom of said seat 53. In the sides of the front end ofthe vehicle-body are preferably glass-covered openings or windows 60,while in said vestibule 42 are a series of preferably glass-coveredopenings 6l, and in the instance shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawingssaid openings Gl are three in number. At about the center of the frontof said vestibule 42 are one or more openings 62 to accommodate thelines, while to the top arm or arms 43 of said vestibule 42 is secured aring G3, to which the lines G4 (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1) may besecured.

Upon the front end of the vehicle-bed is a semicircular dashboard 70,Figs. 1 and2 and Fig. 4 in dotted lines, said dashboard 70 extendingover the central portion of the front end of said vehicle-bed to leavepassageways 71 between the ends of said dash 70 and the body of thevehicle, through which passageways 71 the person may enter or leave thevehicle when the vestibule 42 is turned slightly in either directionupon its pivots 44 and 46 and its rollers 47 upon track 41.

During clement weather or at any desirable time the vestibule 42 may beturned from in front of the seat 53 to a position behind said seat, andthus instead of screening the driver from the weather it exposes thedriver thereto and screens the interior of the vehicle-body therefrom.

Upon opposite sides of the front end of the vehicle-body are verticalstrips 75, extending adjacent to the exterior' surface of thesemicircular vestibule 42 and are adapted to form substantially awater-tight joint between the sides of the vehicle-body and saidvestibule.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a vehicle-body provided with upper and lowerhinged end-gates, brackets attached to said gates, a connectionextending between and pivotally connected to said brackets, and alimit-stop between one of said brackets and said connection,substantially as specified.

2. The combination with the vehicle-body, of the upper and lower hingedend-gates, brackets secured at opposite sides of each of said gates, aconnection extending between and pivoted to the brackets at each side ofsaid end-gates, and a limit-stop between one bracket on each side andsaid connection on each side, substantially as specified.

3. The combination of a vehicle-body, a revoluble semicircular vestibulepivotally mounted at the front end thereof, one or more sight-openingsthrough said vestibule, and a seat mounted substantially in the centerof said semicircular revoluble vestibule, whereby said vestibule may beturned in IOO IIO

IIS

front of said seat to screen the occupant and the interior oftheVehicle-body from the weather, and whereby said vestibule may be turnedto separate the seat and its occupant from the interior of thevehicle-body and screen only the interior of the vehicle-body from theweather, substantially as specified.

4. The combination of a vehicle-body having a bed, sides and a top, arevoluble semicircular vestibule extending vertically between the bedand top, the height and diameter of said vestibule being substantiallyequal to the distance between the bed and the top and between the twosides respectively, said vestibule being mounted upon rollers and acircular track, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of a vehicle-body having a bed, sides and a top, arevoluble semicircular vestibule extending vertically between the bedand top, the height and diameter of said vestibule being substantiallyequal to the distance between the bed and the top and between the twosides respectively, said vestibule being mounted upon rollers and acircular track, and said vestibule being provided at its top and bottomwith extensions projecting toward the axis of said vestibule at whichpoints said extensions are provided with pivotal bearings in the vehiclebed and top, substantially as specified.

G. The combination of a vehicle-body having a bed, sides and a top, arevoluble semicircular vestibule extending vertically between the bedand top, the height and diameter ot' said vestibule being substantiallyequal to the distance between the bed and the top and between the twosides respectively, said vestibule being mounted upon rollers and acircular track, `and said vestibule being provided at its top and bottomwith extensions projecting toward the axis of said vestibule at whichpoints said extensions are provided with pivotal bearings in the vehiclebed and top, one or more openings through said vestibule to accommodatethe lines, and means carried by said extensions at the upper end of saidvestibule for securing the ends of the lines thereto, substantially asspecified.

7. The combination of a vehicle-body, of a removable receptacle-frametherein formed of a series of uprights provided with a series of groovesto receive and support receptacles, said grooves being formed ofprojecting strips upon said uprights cross-pieces for securing saiduprights together, doors mounted in the front ends of a series ofgrooves, and means for securing said doors when closed, substantially asspecified.

8. The combination of a vehicle-body, of a removable receptacle-frametherefor formed of a series of vertical and horizontal portions, and aseries of slides for centering said receptacle-frame in saidvehicle-body, substantially as specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 3d day of July,1899.

JAMES Il. MCLICAN.

Witnesses:

IRA O. KOEHNE, F. M. BUHNHAM.

